show
students how stereotypes are formed and what they can lead to if not acknowledged
and rebutted.

learn
how to challenge bias, unfairness and stereotypical views.

Level:
intermediate and above

A-
Warm -up (Pre-teaching vocabulary)

1.
Group the following adjectives under categories (taste, attitude, feelings, organization,
etc) and indicate which are positive or negative traits. Ask them to check the
meaning or translation in the dictionary if they are not sure (teachers may substitute
these adjectives for easier synonyms according to students' level of English)

Fill
in the following handout completing the sentences with the adjectives listed above.

"
Heaven is where the police are British, the cooks are French, the mechanics are
German, the lovers are Italian and it is all organised by the Swiss. Hell
is where the police are German, the cooks are English, the mechanics are French,
the lovers are Swiss, and it is all organised by the Italians ".

Heaven
is a ___________ place to be (fill in with an adjective)

What
qualities make a good policeman/a cook/a mechanic/lover/ manager ?

A
policeman should be A cook should A mechanic should be A lover should
be A manager should be

In
this joke

the
British are regarded as being the French are portrayed as being the Germans
are considered as being Italian men have a reputation of being the Swiss
are said to be

Hell
is a_________ place to be (fill in with an adjective)

What
is the inference made about

German policemen: British food: French mechanics: Swiss lovers:
Italian management:

Do
you think this is true?

What
do these statements have in common?

B
- Develop ideas/discuss

One
or two students should take notes of the ideas that come up so as to be able to
report them back at the end of the class.

1)
Working with two or three people, compare your answers and see if you have come
to the same conclusion. Share with the class.

2
)Choose two or three other nationalities that are participating in the twinning
and brainstorm common stereotypes that you have heard people use about them.

2)
Working on your own, write down five or six stereotypes for your own nationality.

3) Was
it easy to complete the sentences? Did your answers come naturally? Why? Why not?

4) Did
the completed statements make you feel uncomfortable? Why? Why not?

5)
In general, were your responses positive or negative?

6)
List the stereotypes under positive, negative or neutral. What does this tell
us about stereotypes?

7)
Fill in the following questionnaire on your own and later discuss it with your
teacher and colleagues. You may use : A= I agree B= I'm not sure C= I disagree

National stereotypes
are dangerous because they may provoke racial prejudice.

Stereotypes
contain a certain amount of truth.

There
is no such thing as national character and therefore the idea of national stereotypes
is rubbish.

The
reason stereotypes exist is because people are afraid of diversity, change, and
what is unknown. They prefer to cling to simple classifications, which maintain
an old, familiar and established order.

Stereotypes
are simply harmless sorts of jokes we tell about other nationalities or groups
of people.

8)
What is, in your opinion, the best way to challenge a stereotype.

9)
What you have seen here are national stereotypes. Can you think of other kinds
of stereotypes?

C - Homework

Participating
groups should compose a report to be sent to the teacher by e-mail on the results
of this class.